Piano-action.



F. SCHIMMEL.

PIANO ACTION.

APPLIOATIONIILED JULY 11,1912.

Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

ill a 1 r1 2 7' i 1 PIANO-ACTIGN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 11, 1912.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRIDoLIN sOI-IIMMEL, a citizen of theUnit-ed States, residing at Faribault, in the county of Rice and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in PianoActions; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the in vention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

hiy present invention has for its object to provide an improved piano action for up right pianos which will have all of the good features of a horizontal grand piano action.

To such ends, the invention consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

The present invention is designed as an improvement on or modification of the piano action disclosed and claimed in my copending application, S. N. 639,279, filed July 19th, 1911.

It is a well known fact that the grand piano action is much more perfect, especially in the repeating action, but also in other respects, than the piano actions hitherto employed and in general use in upright pianos.

My present invention aimsat and provides a piano action for upright. pianos which, in all respects, has, in practice, been found as perfect as that of a horizontal piano action.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views. 1

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a view in vertical section showing one unit of the improved piano action with the parts in normal positions; and Fig. 2 is a view corresponding to Fig. 1, but illustrating diifen ent positions of the parts of the piano action and key.

The keys 1 are fulcrumed in the usual way on a key frame 2 and are provided at their inner ends with the usual capstan screws 3.

The numeral 4- indieates the main rail, the numeral 5 the wippen-supporting rail, the numeral 6 the hammer rest rail, the numeral 7 the repeating-lever regulating rail, and the numeral 8 the jack regulating rail, which parts are, as is well known, all fixed members. One of the strings is indicated at 9.

The hammer 10 is pivotally connected in the usual way to a hammer flange 11 rigidly secured to the main rail 4., The hammer 10 is provided with the usual counter check 12 that preferably carries a counterweight 13. lVith this arrangement, the hammer is counterbalanced so that when moved toward the string, the effective leverage of said counterweight will increase as the effective weight of the hammer head decreases. The counter check 12 cooperates with a back check 14, the wire of which is secured to one end of an upper wippen 15 pivoted to a wippen flange 16 rigidly secured to the main rail 4.

The lower structure is a modification of a horizontal grand piano action, and comprisesa lower wippen 17 and a repeatinglever 18, which members are pivotally connected at their rear ends at 19. The said .lower wippen 17, at a point quite close to the said pivot 19 is pivoted to a wippen supporting flange 20, that is rigidly secured to the wippen supporting rail 5. In the standard horizontal piano action, the lower wippen is provided with an intermediate upward extension to which the repeating-lever is intermediately pivoted, but in this improved form of device, the said extension is dispensed with and greater movement of the free end of the repeatlng lever 1s obtalned by direct pivotal connection between the ends of said lower wippen in the repeatinglever. In this improved device, the lower wippen is provided with an upwardly extended stop rod 21 that works through a perforation in the'intermediate portion of the repeating-lever 18 and is provided with adjustable stop nuts 22, one above and one below the said repeating-lever. These stop nuts 22 are so spaced as to permit the de-' sired limit movement of the repeating-lever in respect to the lower wippen, and, as shown, they have threaded engagement with the said rod 21.

The lower wippen 17 rests upon the capstan screw 3 of the key 1, and its free end is bifurcated, and working in the said bifurcated end and pivoted thereto, is a jack 23, the lower end of which cooperates with a jack regulating screw 241 applied to the jack regulating rail 8 in the usual way. The free end of the repeating-lever 18 cooperates with a repeating-lever regulating screw 25 applied to the repeating-lever regulating rail 7, in the usual way. A light spring 26 adjustably connected at one end to the repeating-lever 18 engages the jack 23 with its extended end and exerts a force on the latter which tends to move the upper end thereof, toward the left, Figs. 1 and 2. The

repeating-lever is provided with a quite long" at its upper end, is pivoted to the butt of the hammer 10, and at its lower end is provided with a cushion 30 that rests directly upon the upper face of the repeating lever 18 and upon the upper free end of the jack 23. Here it may be noted that normally, or when the parts are at rest, the upper end of the jack 23 lies approximately flush with the adjacent upper surface of the repeatinglever 18. The lower end of the said hammer extension bar 29 is guided and held in position by a pin 31 that works freely throughv a cushioned guide perforation in the intermediate portion of the repeating lever 18.

A link 32 which is extended through the slot 27 of the repeating-lever 18 is pivotally connectedat its lower end to the free end of the lower wippen 17, and at its upper end is pivotally connected to the free end of the upper wippen 15. It may also here be noted that the upper wippen 15 has a lateral notch 15 which aflo-rds clearance for the hammer extension bar 29, thereby allowing all of the movable parts of the action to be alined in a common vertical plane.

The numeral 33 indicates a light spring, shown as attached at its upper end to a bar 34 with its lower end engaging the butt of the hammer 10 and exerting a light force thereon which assists gravity in imparting a retreating or return movement of the hammer. This spring 33 is desirable but not an essential feature of the invention.

The numeral 35 indicates a stop pad or cushion applied to the intermediate portion of the link 32 and against which the upper portion of the jack 23' strikes when thrown by momentum to an extreme forward position. 1

Operation: The operation is substantially as follows: The weight of the hammer, the wippens and intermediate connections normally hold the key in line or in normal position, and will accomplish this, even when the key is weighted toward the finger engaged end. The normal position of the parts is indicated in Fig. 1. Fig. 2 shows the position of the parts immediately after the hammer has been struck and when the key is still held down. When the key is struck and while the operative momentum is being given to the hammer, the jack is held in engagement with the lower end of the hammer extension bar 29, or rather with the pad 30 thereof, so that the movement imparted to the hammer is positive; but just before the hammer strikes the string, the free end of the repeating-lever 18 engages the head of the stop screw 25, and at about the same time, the lower end of the jack strikes the head of the stop screw 24, and the latter knocks the jack out of engagementwith the lower end of the extension bar. If repetition is to be produced, the parts, after the first stroke, stand, as shown, in Fig. 2, and an extremely slight -re lease of the key will reengage the end of the jack with the lower end of the hammer extension bar 29, and thus again couple the said parts so that the next depression of the key will positively impart an operative stroke to the hammer.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a key, of a piano action comprising a pivoted hammer having a counter check, a pivoted upper wippen having a back check for cooperation with said counter-check, a lower wippen pivoted at one end and supported by said key, a connection between said upper wippen and said lower wippen, a repeating lever pivotally connected at one end to the pivoted end of said lower wippen, a jack pivoted to said lower wippen, stops with which said jack and repeating lever are engageable when moved, and a hammer extension bar connected at its upper end to the butt of said hammer and having its lower end nor mally resting on said repeating lever immediately overlying the upper end of said jack.

2. The combination with a key, of a piano action comprising a pivoted hammer having a counter-check, a pivoted upper wippen having a back check for cooperation with said counter check, a lower wippen pivoted at one end and supported by said key, a connection bet-ween said upper wippen and said lower wippen, a repeating lever piv otally connected at one end to the pivoted end of said lower wippen, a jack pivoted to the said lower wippen, a spring connected between said repeating lever and jack for yieldingly holding the latter in a normal position, stops with which said jack and repeating lever are engageable when moved, and a hammer extension bar pivotally connected at its upper end to the butt of said hammer andv having its lower end normally resting on said repeating lever immediately overlying the upper end of-said jack.

3. The combination with a key, of a piano action comprising a pivoted hammer having a counter check, a pivoted upper wippen having a back check for cooperation with said counter check, a lower wippen pivoted at one end and supported by said key, a repeating lever pivotally connected at one end to the pivoted end of said lower wippen, a stop rod connected to said lower wippen and provided with stops limiting the movements of said repeating lever in respect to said lower wippen, a jack pivoted to said lower wippen and yieldingly held in a normal position, stops with which said jack and repeating lever are engaged when moved, a link connecting the free end of said lower wippen to the free end of said upper wippen, and a hammer extension bar pivotally connected at its upper end to the butt of said hammer and having its lower end normally resting on said repeating le ver immediately overlying the upper end of said jack.

4. The combination with. a key, of a piano action comprising a pivoted hammer having a counter check, a pivoted upper wippen having a check for cooperation with said counter check, a lower wippen pivoted at one end and supported by said key, a repeating lever pivotally connected at one end to the pivoted end of said lower wippen and having a limited movement in respect thereto, a jack pivoted to the said lower wippen, a spring connected between said repeating lever and jack for yieldingly holding the latter in a normal position, stops with which said jack and repeating lever are engaged when moved, a link connecting the free end of said lower wippen to the free end of said upper wippen, a

said lower wippen, a repeating lever hammer extension bar pivotally connected at its upper end to the butt of said hammer and having its lower end normally resting on said repeating lever immediately overlying the upper end of said jack, the said link being entirely forward of said hammer extension bar, and the latter having a depending pin seated in said repeating lever.

5. The combination with a key, of a piano action comprising a pivoted hammer having a counter check, a pivoted upper wippen having a back check for cooperation with said counter check, a lower wippen pivoted at one end and supported by said key, a connection between said upper wippen and pivotally connected at one end to the pivoted end of said lower wippen, a jack pivoted to said lower wippen, stops with which said jack and repeating lever are engaged when moved, a hammer extension bar connected at its upper end to the butt of said hammer and having its lower end normally resting on said repeating lever immediately 0verlying the upper end of said jack, and a spring acting on said hammer and cooperating with gravity to retract said hammer.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRIDOLIN SGHIMMEL. Witnesses T. F. SHANDORF, ROBERT Men.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, I). G. 

